Pubdate: Wed, 09 Jul 2003
Source: Press-Enterprise (CA)
Copyright: 2003 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact:  http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830
Author: Lisa O'Neill Hill; The Press-Enterprise
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/bush.htm (Bush, George)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/topics/faith-based (Faith-Based)

DRUG CZAR SPEAKS AT RIVERSIDE PROGRAM

Photo: Teen Challenge International graduate Daniel Lopez, 21, tells about 
his former drug habits and trouble with the law. Lopez says, "I asked God 
to help me because I didn't know what to do anymore. The heroin had a grip 
on me." (Terry Pierson/The Press-Enterprise)

Photo: Teen Challenge International graduate Justin Jellerson, center, and 
fellow graduates pray Tuesday at the drug treatment facility's graduation 
ceremonies. (Terry Pierson/The Press-Enterprise)

Photo: John P. Walters, the White House drug czar, speaks at a news 
conference at the Teen Challenge International Drug Treatment Facility in 
Riverside. The facility is a faith-based program to help teens overcome 
their drug addiction. (Terry Pierson/The Press-Enterprise)

RIVERSIDE - Daniel Lopez started smoking pot when he was 12. Two years 
later, he was hanging with a tagging crew and using heroin.

His life then took a predictable turn as the addiction took a greater hold: 
He went in and out of jail, tried treatment program after treatment program 
and felt helpless.

"I asked God to help me because I didn't know what to do anymore," said 
Lopez, now 21. "The heroin had a grip on me."

Finally, he found Teen Challenge International, a faith-based, residential 
drug treatment program in Riverside.

He's been sober ever since.

On Tuesday, moments before Lopez participated in graduation ceremonies at 
Teen Challenge, he shared his story with White House drug czar John P. 
Walters and other guests.

Shortly before the ceremony, Walters credited the facility for good work 
and talked about Bush's Access to Recovery Initiative, a three-year, $600 
million federal drug treatment initiative that aims to help 300,000 
Americans kick their addictions.

"This is a place of hope that takes those who have been hurt, those who 
have been broken, and puts them back together," Walters said about Teen 
Challenge. The director of the White House Office of National Drug Control 
Policy was scheduled to speak at the ceremony and hand out certificates to 
graduates.

Bush's drug program would help Americans who want treatment for drug and 
alcohol addiction but lack the money to pay for it. The voucher program 
would add to the federal block grant funding available to states and would 
allow addicts more choices in treatment, including faith-based and 
community-based programs.

Many people in recovery have been aided by faith-based programs, Walters 
said, citing the success of 12-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church 
and State, based in Washington D.C., said by telephone that he was 
disturbed by Walters' visit to Teen Challenge, which he called "sectarian" 
and said seeks to covert people of other religions to Christianity.

"This apparently is the first step of what appears to be a campaign to 
endorse religious-based treatment programs," Lynn said. "There is no 
evidence these programs are particularly effective."

Walters said he chose to speak at the Teen Challenge center because it is 
an example of what needs to be done elsewhere. He also said the drug 
problems facing Riverside -- heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana 
use -- are typical of what the nation as a whole faces.

There are 6 million people in need of drug treatment in the country, 
Walters said. Twenty-three percent are teenagers, he said.

The drug czar is touring 25 of the largest metropolitan areas in the United 
States, talking about the initiative and about the need for the community 
involvement.

Forty percent to 80 percent of substance abuse occurs in those cities, he said.

"As I travel, I find almost every family in the United States has been 
touched by substance abuse," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom